Preface

  Contents

  Introduction

  1. Pitcher Plants
  2. Cobra Plant
  3. Sundews
  4. Venus Flytrap
  5. Butterworts
  6. Bladderworts

  References

  HOME

Introduction

In the wilderness of marshes and swamps exists a variety of life forms adapted to their peculiar environment through their never-ending struggle for survival. The marsh might have been where the most primitive of life forms emerged and evolved eons ago on the virgin Earth.

The exuberance of water in the marshland invites water-loving species from both animal and plant kingdoms. For the plant dwellers, this habitat is also typified by acid soil with a low content of mineral substances so vital for all green plants to sustain and continue their existence. This particular environmental stress has given rise to a habit quite eccentric in the plant kingdom of our planet.

It is in such mineral-poor environments found in some regions of the globe that the plants that have adopted carnivory can be found. These plants preferentially occupy the nutrition-poor soil and thrive at a competitive edge over non-carnivorous plants with a more conventional lifestyle.